This section provides background information related to the present disclosure and is not necessarily prior art.
When a moving vehicle is abruptly stopped (i.e., from contact with a stationary object or another vehicle), the forward momentum and associated forces are transferred to vehicle occupants. Vehicle safety systems—including seating systems—minimize the effects of such forces on the vehicle occupants by transferring energy generated by the vehicle impact to the structure of the vehicle and away from the vehicle occupants.
Impact forces are commonly absorbed by the vehicle structure through deformation of steel and other structural components. Forces associated with an occupant moving relative to the vehicle are safely and controllably transmitted to the vehicle structure via the seatbelt or airbag such that the structure, as opposed to the occupant, can manage the energy.
Energy management devices are commonly designed for use in conjunction with one another to transfer impact forces to the associated vehicle structure. For example, airbags transmit a force received by a moving occupant to the vehicle structure via a steering column or cross-car beam, while seatbelts transmit similar forces to the vehicle structure via a vehicle floor pan and/or vehicle seat. Such vehicle seats receive the impact force from one, or both of, the airbag and seatbelt to dissipate energy safely to the vehicle structure, thereby protecting the vehicle occupants. Thus, interaction between the occupant and the seat back plays a role in energy management during an impact event.
The foregoing safety systems adequately protect an occupant during a front or rear impact event. However, such systems are not designed to absorb forces applied to an underbody of a vehicle. Such forces applied to an underbody of a vehicle may be the result of improvised explosive devices, or so-called IEDs, used in combat zones to destroy armored personnel carriers. Such forces often cause the vehicle to move in a direction away from the ground, potentially causing injury to vehicle occupants caused by the initial impact of the force, as well as the return of the vehicle to the ground when the force is dissipated.